Generosity: Virtue in the Civil Society

by Tibor R. Machan

Book Overview

Machan argues that generosity is an important virtue for citizens of a free society and that it can be cultivated only through freedom.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 188257754X
• ISBN13: 9781882577545
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Cato Institute
• Length: 107 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Generosity as a rational-egoistic virtue

In this lean and meaty volume, libertarian philosopher Tibor Machan both makes a case for generosity as a civic virtue and denies that it can be enjoined by law. Grounding his arguments in a rational-egoistic, natural-law-based "virtue ethic," he presents what may be the best argument yet offered that the virtue of generosity is a constitutive part of a well-lived human life. He then proceeds to demolish the view that generosity may properly, or can be effectively, enforced by a "welfare state."This work also makes a nice companion to David Kelley's _Unrugged Individualism_, which focuses on the more general virtue of _benevolence_. The Randian camp has not yet made a full case that benevolence and generosity -- which, by nature and definition, aim _directly_ at the well-being of people other than oneself -- are genuinely compatible with rational egoism; Kelley in particular tries to reduce benevolence without remainder merely to further consequences to oneself. But Machan's virtue ethic makes up for a good deal of what Kelley lacks; between the two of them, they've made a tremendous start on a very demanding project.